Happy Birthday, Captain Rogers
by Sargerogue
Summary: Steve Rogers was not happy to be woken in the middle of the night by Tony Stark and whisked off to God knows where on July 3rd. But maybe the 4th wouldn't be that bad. Rated T for mention of alcohol. One-shot


**Disclaimer: I do not own anyone in this one-shot other than Jean and Sarah. All other characters belong to Marvel.**

* * *

Steve Rogers was up far too late last night for his normal routine the past few months. Normally, he was early to bed and early to rise but with the situation going on right now, he was late to bed and he was early to rise the next morning he was sure. After putting up with an annoying car ride to the airport, Steve had boarded a plane at eleven o'clock at night with Tony. Tony said there was something urgent he had to have Steve on and wouldn't leave Steve's apartment without the older man. After twenty minutes, Steve had relented and here he found himself on a plane to God knows where.

He sleeps for most of the plane ride, only to be woken and put in a SUV with Tony keeping him company in the backseat while he slept. After another hour and a half drive, they stopped finally reaching their destination. It was too dark to see where they were but Tony led him to a building and tucked him into bed.

"I'll see you in the morning, Cap."

"Night, Tony." The Captain had then rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head to ignore anything else that might disturb his sleep.

* * *

"Wake up, Capcicle," Tony says a little too loud in Steve's ear to wake him up. Steve mutters something as he moves the pillow off his head. Tony is dressed in a pair of sport like shorts and a white wife-beater. Steve raises an eyebrow at the sunscreen covering the billionaires skin along with the sunglasses and baseball hat on his head. He notices that Tony is wearing a pair of sporty like sandals. "Afternoon."

"Huh?"

"It's noon, Steve. I let you sleep in." The reality of what Tony had just said jogs Steve's memory of last night. He looks around and notices he's in a log cabin. The bed he's in is a queen sized; his travel bag sits on the dresser along with another bag next to that. There's a coffee table, a little living area, and a nice view of a lake out the big bay window.

"Tony, where are we?" Steve asks looking up at his friend as the billionaire walks over to the second bag and pulls out an identical outfit to his. The sport shorts are blue and the shirt is red with a large white star in the middle where Steve's heart would be. He tosses them to Steve along with a pair of the sandals and a pair of sunglasses.

"Michigan, more specifically a private lake in the Upper Peninsula," Tony says. "It's a nice little camp and we have it all to ourselves for the next three weeks. Well, other than the manager and her daughter. You'll love them."

"Why are we here exactly?" Steve asks.

"Just get dressed and come outside." Tony walks out and Steve looks at the clothes in his hands. He changes quickly after closing the curtains of the bay window. How Tony had known what clothes to get him was beyond him but he wouldn't question the billionaire's intentions just yet. He could use the vacation after all.

Steve walks up to the door and opens it wide to leave the log house via the porch. He has his back to the lake as he closes the door. Turning around he almost stumbles back in surprise. Hanging between two large posts is a banner that reads "Happy Birthday Captain Steve Rogers" with one under it that reads "Happy 4th of July" in red, white, and blue letters. Standing on the steps of the porch are Natasha, Tony, and Pepper. At the foot of the steps Clint, Bruce, Thor, Dr. Erik Selvig, Maria Hill, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Happy Hogan, and Betty Ross. Steve also notices a woman clinging onto Clint's back that he doesn't recognize.

"Happy birthday Steve," Natasha says walking up to the man and kissing his lips softly for a few moments before separating from him. Steve blushes scarlet and Natasha smiles at him.

"This is a pleasant surprise," Steve says. He spots a woman and a child walking around in a pavilion with bug screens to keep the bugs out. "I wasn't expecting anything."

"It's your birthday Cap; do you really think we'd forget about it? Come on, Jean has lunch ready and we have presents to give you too," Tony says. "Come on gang, lunch time!" Tony and Pepper walk off with Maria, Happy, and Erik toward the pavilion. Natasha loops her arm through Cap's and leads him down the stairs to introduce him properly to the rest of the gang.

"Captain, it's a pleasure to meet you finally," Rhodey says shaking Cap's hand. "It's an honor sir."

"It's an honor to finally meet you as well, Mr. Rhodes."

"Please, call me Rhodey." Cap nods and Rhodey walks off to join Tony and Pepper. Clint walks up with the woman now holding him around his waist.

"Captain, I would like for you to meet my girlfriend, Bobbi Morse," Clint says and Bobbi holds out her hand. The beautiful blond smiles at Steve.

"It's an honor to finally meet you Captain. Clint has told me so much," Bobbi says with a giggle.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Morse."

"Call me Bobbi. Come on Clint, I need a drink." The pair walk off and the others chuckle. Thor comes up next with one arm around his brunette and holding the collar of the younger girl.

"Captain, I'm Jane Foster," Jane says as she shakes hands with Steve. "When Thor said I was going to meet Captain America and help celebrate his birthday, I about died of shock. It's an honor to be here."

"Thank you, Ms. Foster. It's a pleasure to finally meet the woman behind the god," Steve chuckles. He looks to the girl that is trying to break free of Thor's grasp. "You must be Darcy Lewis."

"Yes sir. Thor let go before I take out my Taser!" Darcy threatens and the god drops her. Darcy throws her arms around Cap for a moment before backing off. "I had to give you a hug. Thank you for everything you've ever done for America. I'm so happy to be here for your birthday!"

"Uh, thanks." Darcy smiles and drags Jane off to lunch. Steve looks at Thor. "You're scared of a Taser."

"The young lady is quite skilled with the Taser device. But I suppose that's better than getting hit by a vehicle twice by Jane. See you at lunch, Captain." Thor walks off and kisses Jane when he reaches her. Bruce has an arm around Betty Ross as he walks up.

"Steve, I want you to meet the love of my life, Betty Ross," Bruce says.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ross," Cap says.

"And an honor to meet you. Thank you for accepting Bruce for who he is. Not many do."

"I know what you mean." The pair walk away and Steve looks down at Natasha who still has her arm looped in his.

"Happy birthday Steve."

"Natasha," he starts but she puts a finger to his lips. She leans up and kisses him again.

"You deserve happiness to Steve."

"I was going to ask, would you like to go on a date with me sometime?" Steve asks as he brushes her red locks out of her face. "Perhaps we could go out on a sunlight boat ride while we're here."

"I'd like that Steve. Come on, lunch time." The pair walk into the pavilion where the biggest picnic table Steve had ever seen in his life is sitting covered in red and white checkered cloth and piled high with food. Natasha leads Steve to the head of the table where two seats remain empty. Standing there is the woman from earlier and the little girl. The woman holds her hand out to him and Steve takes it.

"I'm Jean Andrews and this is my lovely daughter Sarah," Jean says as she releases his hand and brushes the blond hair out of the girl's face.

"Hi Mr. Rogers," Sarah says. "I'm a big fan of Captain America."

"You are?" Steve says crouching down so he's more the child's level. Sarah can't be more than eight or nine.

"Yeah."

"How old are you Sarah?"

"I'm nine but I'll be ten soon."

"Cool. It's a pleasure to meet you Sarah," Steve says. "Would you like a hug?" Sarah nods and Steve smiles before giving the little girl a hug.

"Mr. Stark, me and Sarah are going to get the kayaks ready down on the water," Jean says.

"Thanks Jean. Hey Sarah, you want to come kayaking with us?" Tony asks.

"Can I Mr. Stark?" Sarah asks excitedly.

"Of course, well that is if your mom says yes," Tony says looking up at Jean. Steve rises to his full height and Jean looks him in the eyes.

"She'll be in the best of hands, ma'am."

"All right. Sarah, go get your swimsuit on then meet me down by the water," Jean says.

"Yes! Thanks Captain! Thanks Mr. Stark!" The energetic little girl runs out of the room and Jean looks between the two men.

"Thank you. Rarely anything makes Sarah happy anymore."

"Our pleasure." Jean walks out leaving the Avengers and their company to eat. Steve eats four hamburgers before he's full along with some fries and a beer. Tony has a burger, a beer, and an apple. Pepper eats a salad with a lemonade that Natasha had put just a sip of Vodka in. So needless to say, all those present had just a little bit of alcohol before they were to go out on their kayaking trip around the lake.

The camp ground that Tony has rented out for three weeks has a large enough lake that the trip would take them at least an hour. According to Pepper, who had a map, they'd also be going into some of the small canals to some sites with butterflies and birds back in them along with one garden. To Steve, this is a great birthday present. Natasha informs him that he'd have presents to open at dinner and that Jean was putting on something special a little after dark tonight.

The group heads down to the water to see Jean pushing a few of the kayaks into the water a bit more with Sarah in the water clipping them onto anchors. There are sixteen recreational kayaks lined up on the water. A few of them are a little bit bigger than the others and Steve instantly knows one is for him and the other is for Thor. One kayak looks custom made and bears a medical cross on it. A few of the other kayaks that are a bit larger have holds that Steve has no doubt hold beer or other drinks.

"Hi," Jean says cheerfully, "I trust lunch was good."

"Exceptional," Steve says as they walk down to the shore.

"All right, Sarah is going to lead you around the lake instead of me giving you a map to the canals. Sarah knows the place better than I do," Jean chuckles. "Now, Steve, Thor, those two are yours," Jean points to the larger kayaks that Steve had picked out earlier, "they're a bit sturdier for you bigger build men. Sarah will use the medical kayak unless anyone else wants it."

"No, we're good," Tony insists.

"All right. Sarah, why don't you get your radio from the house?" Jean asks.

"Okay Mom." The nine year old climbs out of the water and that's when all of the group other than Tony stares at her. Hidden partially by her bathing suit is a glowing disk where her heart is. She walks away and everyone looks to Jean.

"Really Tony, you didn't tell them?" Jean growls.

"Slipped my mind," Tony mutters.

"What's the story?" Clint asks.

"My husband worked for Stark Industries for a number of years. He knew Tony from college. About two months after the incident at the Stark Expo, Sarah was walking home from school when she was shot in a drive by shooting. Three rounds close to her heart, so close that unless they get her another heart, the operation to remove them would kill her. And to be quite frank, neither myself or my husband could afford it. When Tony found out that my husband was gone for two weeks on family emergency leave, he wanted to know why. He found out about Sarah and well, Mr. Stark has taken care of everything. He got the arc reactor for her chest that keeps the rounds from getting into her heart. He paid the medical bills for us. Even after my husband was killed in a car accident, Tony has always helped us out when we need something or can't afford the bills. In return, I do favors like this for Tony. I also do research on prosthetics for Stark Industries in return," Jean explains.

"Tony, you're a big softy you know that?" Clint says. Sarah comes running back down the hill and slips the radio into the kayak she'll be using. Sarah looks up at the Avengers and friends.

"Ready?" Everyone dawns life vests, though most of them plan to remove them once they get out into the lake and away from Jean. Sarah and Jean shove the kayaks into the water before Sarah jumps in hers and Jean pushes her into the water. Sarah leads the way for the group and unclips her vest once out of her mother's eyes. Steve and Natasha follow the young girl closely through the lake and into the different canals.

The garden is the first stop. The assortment of flowers amazes all present. There are red and white roses the second you walk into the garden. In one of the boxes, the flowers had been arranged to look like Steve's shield. In another, it looked like the American flag. Sarah hands Steve a lovely white rose and motions for him to give it to Natasha. Steve turns to Natasha and slips the rose into her hair. Sarah smiles in triumph of making a romantic moment for the couple.

After that canal, they go to the butterfly habitat and see all the monarch butterflies there. Next was the birds and unfortunately, Darcy ticked off one mother bird and it tried to dive bomb her head. The others laughed until Darcy took out her Taser to subdue the bird. Needless to say, Thor had to hold her while Steve took the Taser from Darcy.

All in all, the ride was quite pleasant. When they got back, they all helped to take care of the kayaks. They found Jean barbecuing with food ready along with Steve's presents. Sarah tells her all about the trip and about Darcy's Taser incident. Jean laughs through most of it. Steve catches a few exaggerations but doesn't call the child out on it.

After dinner, the group heads to a nicely kept patch of grass with lights illuminating it. Sarah goes over to a box on the tree and music fills the air. The first song is a slow song and all the couples match up. Darcy and Erik dance together as do Maria and Happy. Sarah dances with Rhodey while Jean is off doing something. The military man smiles as he dances with the younger girl who is struggling to dance to the music correctly. Across the dance floor, Steve dances with Natasha, her head on his shoulder. A beep interrupts the air and Sarah looks at her watch.

"Go down to the shore," Sarah say and the group looks at each other. "Mom has a surprise." The group makes their way down to the shore. They spot Jean in the water next to a platform with boxes on it. Sarah smiles and bounces up and down happily. A small spark hits the first box and Jean dives into the water and swims to shore. A whistling sound occurs as the firework shoots up into the sky. It explodes in the shape of Steve's shield. Natasha turns to look up at Steve.

"Happy birthday, Captain America," Natasha whispers. "Happy birthday, Steve Rogers."

"Thank you, Natasha." She smiles softly before Steve kisses her. Sarah giggles at the display of affection and Steve looks down at her. "You think that's funny?"

"Cute." Steve catches her in his arms and picks her up. He kisses her cheek and holds her on his hip.

"I think you are cute, Miss Sarah. When's your birthday?"

"The 13th."

"Are we going to have fireworks on your birthday?" Steve asks as he wraps an arm around Natasha.

"I wish."

"Well then, we can share these fireworks. Happy early birthday," Steve says.

"Thanks Mr. Rogers."

"Call me Steve. You want to sit on my shoulders?"

"Sure!" Steve lifts her onto his shoulder and Natasha glances up at the kid. Natasha hugs Steve as he watches the fireworks. Steve hadn't even realized it was his birthday today. He had lost track of time. Though, he didn't really want to celebrate his birthday either. He had lost all his family and didn't think it would be the same. But now, now he realized something. He had a new family that cared about him. One that would do anything to make him smile on his birthday.

"Happy birthday to me," Steve says softly as Natasha sets her head on Sarah's knee instead of Steve's shoulder.

"Happy birthday, Steve," Sarah says from on top of his shoulders. Steve smiles up at her for a moment. This was probably number one on his birthday list.

* * *

_**Hope you liked this little one-shot. I picked the name Sarah for two reasons. A) Steve's mom was Sarah Rogers and B) that's my name but without the "h" so I couldn't resist. And yes, that's my actual birthday but not my age of course. I thought since it was the 4th of July, and Captain America's birthday, I should write this. **_

_**(BTW, I have a thunderstorm over my head, well did, it died down pretty well. I literally said, "Wow, Thor must be wishing Captain America a happy birthday or something." **_


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